In the near-darkness of his room, Alex
plays his guitar while reclining on his bed. At a loud series of raps at his window, he
pulls up the blinds to reveal Isabel outside. She asks to come in, and they sit together
on the window seat, quietly talking. Isabel confesses that she’s taken her last high
school course, and is now eligible to graduate. She has no idea what she’ll do, but
she knows this is the last chance she’ll ever have to go to the prom.
"Alex," she pleads, "Please don’t make me just sit here." Alex
relents: "Isabel Evans, go to the prom with me?" Isabel smiles widely and hugs
him in response.At the Crashdown, Maria and Liz put finishing touches on their prom
attire. Kyle and Tess enter, then Isabel and Alex. Maria and Kyle commiserate over their
parents’ propensity for making out in secluded places, and both look pointedly at Jim
and Amy cuddling in a booth. Max comes into the Crashdown, and there is awkwardness
between him and Liz. Amy demands they all get together so that Sean can take their
picture, and the entire group poses for the picture, with Isabel looking particularly
gorgeous.
At the prom, Isabel and Alex stand for the requisite prom photo. Alex tells her
she’s "incredibly beautiful" in her lovely, low-cut red dress. Isabel
thanks Alex again for bringing her, since she knows he didn’t want to come. He tells
her she has to promise not to be any more beguiling, otherwise, he’ll be right back
where he was. Isabel laughs, but Alex doesn’t, telling her he’s serious, and
they go off to dance.
Kyle comes to the surprising realization that he doesn’t want a romantic
relationship with Tess because he thinks of her as his sister. While dancing, Liz tells
Max that she saw him with Tess. She continues, telling him that she’s been in such
pain for the last year, and that maybe they should finally let go of their relationship.
She leaves Max to join Maria, who is dateless. But suddenly Michael shows up, and
confesses that Juanita is his dance instructor, not his new love interest. It seems he
decided to take dancing lessons because he knew the prom was a big deal for Maria. Once
again, Michael has won Maria over.
Tess sees Max sitting sad and alone in the hall, and sits next to him. He tells her
it’s really over between him and Liz
Isabel and Alex dance slowly, gazing into each others’ eyes. Isabel says
she’s going to do something she said she wouldn’t do, and though Alex says,
"Don’t," she kisses him anyway. "I asked you not to do that," he
says, seemingly in a daze. She kisses him again, and he responds sweetly. Liz watches as
they kiss, then goes out in the hallway, where she finds Max and Tess reliving their first
kiss from their other life. She runs heartbroken to the bowling alley, where she and Sean
spend the rest of the night sliding up and down the lanes in their socks.
Liz narrates that sometimes, we can’t tell our hearts what to feel, as she and
Sean continue to slide, Maria attempts to dance with Michael, Max and Tess sit quietly
together, and Isabel and Alex continue endlessly kissing.
